Israel Cycling Academy founder predicts team will be in Giro d’Italia

by VeloClub

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Sylvan Adams, the man behind both the Giro d’Italia’s start in Israel and also the Israel Cycling Academy, has all but confirmed that the latter team will be taking part in the Italian Grand Tour next May. “I am the person who brought the Giro to Israel, and because of my ownership in Israel Cycling Academy, to me, the projects are intertwined,” he told CyclingTips in a detailed Q&A interview.

“We made an application to RCS to participate in the Giro and our application, I understand, has been very, very well received. I’m very confident that we will be racing… they haven’t made the official announcement so I guess it’s never as certain until they make the announcement. But we’re … let’s put it this way; we are very confident that we will be racing in our first Grand Tour on home soil.”

One of Adams’ aims in bringing the race to the country is to present what he terms ‘the real Israel.’ He rejects a recent commentary article in Rouleur saying the race should be boycotted.

“I think you need a fertile imagination to call it anything than a purely positive story. And frankly, that’s not the Jerusalem that I know and visit all the time,” he said.

“I get served in hotels and restaurants by Arabs who work disproportionately in the service industry in Jerusalem, and we all seem to get along. I’m new here, so I don’t know what he’s talking about.”